The debate on the Education Bill in the Lords opened
on Thursday. The Duke of Devonshire described the genesis of and need for the measure, and Lord Spencer, in moving its rejection, relied on arguments already all too familiar from their reiteration in the Commons. His best point was made in connection with the appointment of teachers in voluntary schools. He objected, he said, to an official of the State—for these schools would be practically State schools—being placed under a religious disability. For the reek he promised his strenuous support to the Kenyon-Slaney Clause if the Govern- ment maintained it. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who, we regret to learn, showed signs of increasing infirmity during his speech, earnestly appealed to the Lords to pass the Bill and "let us see how it will act when it begins to work " ; and Lord Goschen eloquently vindicated the fitness of the clergy for carrying out the sacred duty which they had hitherto performed,—the work of moulding the hearts and souls of the young. The remaining speeches call for no comment.
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